Charger for determining kind of electronic apparatus acceptable in accordance with state of charge of secondary battery

Abstract

A charger of the present invention includes a charging circuit that allows a secondary battery to be charged, a state-of-charge detection circuit that detects a state of charge of the secondary battery, a pictogram display unit that displays the state of charge of the secondary battery, and a control device that controls the charging circuit and the pictogram display unit on the basis of the state of charge of the secondary battery. The control device determines a kind of electronic apparatus available by the secondary battery in accordance with the state of charge of the secondary battery, and then displays the kind of electronic apparatus available on the pictogram display unit.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A charger comprising:
 a charging circuit that allows a secondary battery to be charged; 
 a state-of-charge detection circuit that detects state of charge of the secondary battery; 
 a display device that includes an image display screen comprising a first display area and a second display area, wherein the first display area displays a kind of electronic apparatus available based upon a state of charge of the secondary battery, and the second display area is superimposed on the first display area, and displays a level meter in which the state of charge of the secondary battery is indicated by a ratio to full charge; and 
 a control device that controls the charging circuit and the display device on the basis of the state of charge of the secondary battery, 
 wherein the control device determines a kind of electronic apparatus available by the secondary battery in accordance with the state of charge of the secondary battery, and 
 wherein the display device displays the kind of electronic apparatus determined by the control device on the first display area and displays the level meter on the second display area. 
 
     
     
       2. The charger according to  claim 1 , wherein the display device displays the kind of electronic apparatus available with a pictogram. 
     
     
       3. The charger according to  claim 2 , wherein the display device includes a light transmission section formed in a shaped of the pictogram, and an illuminating section that illuminates the light transmission section from the inside. 
     
     
       4. The charger according to  claim 1 , wherein the control device determines the kind of electronic apparatus available from the amount of integrated charge of the second battery. 
     
     
       5. The charger according to  claim 1 , wherein the charging circuit is capable of allowing a plurality of secondary batteries to be simultaneously charged, and wherein the state-of-charge detection circuit is capable of detecting a state of charge of the plurality of secondary batteries, and also wherein the control device determines a kind of electronic apparatus available by the plurality of secondary batteries.